Quoth the Raven
by Desuka Kira
Summary: The second 'Prequel' to my yet to be released DCAU story. A light-hearted, stereotypical story about two girls falling madly in love, making a choice, meeting a Goddess and... wait, what? A fluffy story of love and family, humor and depth. Raenx pairing, so for those who are oblivious to Titan lore- In which case, why be here?- That means lesbians. Don't like don't read, nuff said.
1. Enter, Lenore

**A/N:** Hey guys, been a long time since I was here last. Thought I'd post this up and give you all a quick word. I'm planning on picking back up all of my stories, however, updates will likely be a month or so apart due to an ever dwindling lack of time for writing.

Kyd Wykkyd sat near the monitor of the Hive Five base, reading some ancient tome of lore that he had recently... _acquired._ He sat, trying to ignore the massive argument in front of the large flat screen television. Billy Numerous was trying, with little success, to take the remote from Gizmo. Gizmo was watching some sort of tech show when Billy came in demanding to watch 'wrastlin', whatever that was. Kyd smiled as the other two members of the Hive Five walked in, and instantly chose sides. Mammoth grabbed the remote from Gizmo by using his height, earning an infantile insult, but was quickly thwarted by See-More's eyeball hitting it out of his hand.

Kyd placed his hand into his cloak, and grabbed the remote through the shadow it made on the floor. The brawl stopped as all of them looked to Kyd, who just smiled as he changed the channel to an action movie. The crew sighed in defeat and sat down, accepting the compromise without argument. _Jinx was right; they are all like a bunch of kids._ That thought brought up conflicting emotions. It'd been five years. Five years since the battle between the Titans and the Brotherhood of Evil, and none of the Five had seen neither hide nor hair of the hex-casting vixen.

Though Kyd couldn't blame her, she had a lot to deal with back then. The five of them were kids, and they acted like it, both on and off the job. Besides that, Jinx was like him: They had morals, if distorted ones. Like her, Kyd would never endanger an innocent, even if it would save them. So it really didn't surprise him that she went hero, he's been debating it himself, recently.

"Hey, Kyd." Gizmo yelled from the couch. "The flick's done; can we get the crud munching remote back now?" Kyd sighed before tossing the remote over the couch and onto the table in front of it. 3...2...1... "I wanna watch wrastlin'!" "No, you snot licking barf brain, we're watching the tech channel, I wanna see what's out there to steal." "But that's so boooooring, Gizmo, let's watch wrestling, its fun." "There ain't nothing fun about watching men in tights fighting, we see _that_ all the time!"

Something strange stopped all the commotion in the room. The door buzzer rang. "What the crud, since when did we have a doorbell?" Gizmo yelled as the rest of them, along with himself, got into battle formation. Kyd nodded his head to them then stuck his head into his cape, exiting it out of the entrance to their lair. His eyes caught sight of a very soaked looking Jinx standing in the snow. His eyes widened as she looked at him. "Well, you gunna open the door, Kyd? I got nowhere else to go."

Kyd's head re-emerged from his cape, and he looked at the others with his eyes still wide in shock before running to the door and opening it. "'Bout damn time, Kyd." Jinx snapped at him with a tad bit too much vehemence, and then stalked inside, straight to her old room, locking the door behind her.

Raven sat up in bed, reading from her favourite book. A collection of works from Edgar Allan Poe, an author whom she could relate to. His works held a darkness she felt was needed in all literature: Not too dark, but neither was it a story without sadness, And even though his most famous work was her namesake, she truly cherished the works for their originality. She even drew a lot of her own drive from his example. He lived in a time where life was, by definition, a living hell. Yet he strove to bring people some clarity of entertainment even if it meant he'd go without food sometimes. It's a tale none too different from her own. So it wasn't surprising to see her reading that book, while thinking of her own _Lenore_.

Oh, how that pink haired vixen had always driven her wild. Nobody knew which way Raven swung, not even the Boy Wonder, and that's because she hid her emotions so well. And unfortunately for our _raven_ haired heroine, the only one who's ever piqued her interest was that thief with bubblegum hair and eyes. Oh how she hated her own weakness for that Cheshire grin, but she was the woman had hexed and vexed her from day one when they attacked the Tower. "What are you doing now, Lenore?"

Her mind began to wander down into Nevermore, taking a stroll, literally, down Memory Lane. Knowledge seemed to have inherited Raven's dry humor, and so Raven's memories were organized into movie theatres that ran along a nearly endless street called 'Memory Lane'. It had taken all of Raven's restraint not to wring the aspect's neck when she first came here. Now it, oddly enough, amused her. "Knowledge, where are you?" Suddenly an information kiosk appeared in front of Raven, with the grey cloaked Knowledge inside. "What do you need, Mistress?"

"The usual, Knowledge." Suddenly an arm covered in pink fabric wrapped around Raven's neck, as Happy glomped her. "Dwelling on her won't help you, Mistress." A green version of herself kicked the pink one off and then smiled at Raven. "She's right, Mistress. Go get our girl back!" Even the yellow cloaked Timid agreed with everyone. "Without her, life will only get worse." Raven smiled at them all. "I wish I could go get her... but she's happy with someone else. That's enough for me." As soon as Raven entered the theatre, she knew something was up. There was two seats inside the theatre, when every other time, just one had been there. And the other seat was occupied by someone wearing red.

"**'Bout time you showed up, **_**mistress.**_"The cloaked figure turned its head, reveal two solid red eyes. "**Don't worry, I'm not your enemy anymore. Father used me as much as he did you.**" The aspect spat at the mention of their sire, then signalled for Raven to sit beside her. Raven did so reluctantly. "How are you out of your plane? I bound you there." The aspect shook her head and smiled. "**No, you bound **_**Father**_** there. I'm no longer under his control. I'm your natural Anger.**" The movie began playing, a compilation of all Raven's memories of Jinx. Both watched it in silence until the memories began featuring Kid Flash. That's when Anger began to growl. "**You say you're happy as long as She is happy, but if that were true; why do I feel the need to rip Kid Flash's intestines out and strangle him with them?**" Raven couldn't deny it. She was angry at Kid for taking _her_ Jinx away. "Even if I'm mad at Flash... Jinx still deserves happiness, with or without me."

"**But what if she's not happy? You know as well as I do what that bastard is like.**" Raven glared at Anger for a bit, but she couldn't argue with her aspect. Anger was right, Flash was a total douche. Honestly, she was amazed that Flash hasn't cheated on her yet, considering he flirted with anything with two legs. "If she's not happy... I'll rip out Flash's intestines myself and give them to you." Anger flashed a sadistic, toothy smile then. "**Glad we agree... for once.**"

After leaving Nevermore, Raven needed to get out. It was a beautiful day outside, and, contrast to her dark demeanour, she loved to be out on a sunny day. Porting herself into the commons with her shadows, she motioned to Robin, who was cuddling with Kori on the couch. "When did you get back, Dick?" She inquired, and Kori answered excitedly, as always. "Oooooh! Raven, I have a Niece!" The alien princess rushed up to Raven and hugged her violently, and for once, Raven thanked her demonic heritage. The news that Blackfire, one of their oldest enemies, now lived on Earth with Derrick Jordan of all people, truly surprised the half demon. And now she had two children, a boy and a girl. "Congratulations, Kori. Did you give Blackfire my message?" Kori nodded, smiling. "Your gift made Blackfire cry. A warding charm that uses the love of family... how do you always know what to give?"

"Probably just my demon nature. Temptresses and all that. Anyways, Dick, I'm going out for a bit." Robin nodded his acceptance. "Just keep your T-comm on, never know when trouble might happen."

And so, Raven quickly flew to her favourite dark cafe in town.

Kyd silently snuck up on See-More, tapping him on the shoulder to scare him. "Don't scare me like that, Kyd!" He whispered violently. Kyd began to move his hands swiftly, using sign language to converse with See-More. _You shouldn't be spying on her, See-More. She'll catch you._ "I know what I'm doing Kyd." Another finger tapped him on the shoulder. "No you don't." The Cyclops turned to see that Cheshire grin aimed at him, just before a hex bolt hit him and sent him flying into a wall. "You _ever_ spy on me again, See-More, and you won't live the night."

Kyd tapped Jinx on the shoulder, gaining her attention before using sign language to talk to her. _Are you okay now, Jinx?_ The sorceress smiled at him. "You learnt sign language, good. And no, I'm not fine, though I'm feeling better. I just need time, Kyd. Thank you for worrying though." Kissing him on the cheek, she giggled lightly then returned to her room, dropping the happy-go-lucky facade and fell onto her bed in sobs. "How could he?! We actually _had_ something there, and he threw me aside like trash!" She lay in bed like that for a while before falling asleep.

_Her dreams disturbed her. They flew between a red and yellow blur that she chased but couldn't catch, and her own shadow, with a raven upon its shoulder. A flame rose, a red beast roared in the distance, a lasso came out of nowhere and bound her to a wall of silver before the raven upon her shadow's shoulder flew from it and broke the rope. She ran, and ran, until she came upon a river. She drank to quench her thirst, but after her first sip, the river began to steal the pink energy that flowed through her. The Raven flew to the other side of the river, and, after its shadowy body flowed into the river, became Raven._

Jinx woke with a start. _What was that about?_Sure, she'd always played on both teams, but this was **Raven** she was dreaming about. Albeit a mythical, prophetic type of dream, but a dream nonetheless. "Well, may as well go out and get some air. Can't keep myself cooped up forever, after all." Getting up and getting ready for a night on the town, Jinx smiled as she looked herself over in the mirror. She kept the traditional horns that she always wore, but this time she bound them in twin spiral ribbons that tied at the top and streamed down to her neck from them. Her dress was a mix of pink, purple, and a tad bit of red at the hems, with a knee length skirt that had a slit up the left side. Her back was exposed in a V that went down to the middle of her back, and there was a small diamond cut into the front where her bosom met. Her breasts had grown a bit lately, and she felt like showing off her now not flat chest.

"Time to get the wow factor going." The hex caster giggled out as she walked out with a sway to her hips. She smiled at the boys as she walked past the rec area. "I'm going out for a bit, boys. I'll be back sometime." Before any of them could comment she was out the door. She strutted her way down the streets of Jump City, heading down to a local club she always loved. The doorman smiled as she came up. "It's been a while, Jinx! Where ya been?" Jinx smiled her Cheshire smile back at the man. "I was out of town, Rick. How's the club tonight, busy?"

"Extremely, just like ya like it, girl. Get in there and show em how to party." The man smiled at her and opened the door. Jinx walked into a dark room with lots of neon and flashing lights, fast paced dance music playing so loud, she could barely think. "Hey guys! I'm Back!" The hex caster yelled with a laugh, and rushed into the crowd to mingle. The night was young, and she'd stay with it until it died.

The sun was breaking into the dark cafe, signalling the first rays of the morning sun. Raven had been pleasantly surprised when she walked into her cafe to find an all night poetry reading in progress. The owner had smiled when she walked in. _"Was going to call you, Miss Roth, but the bureaucrats wouldn't give me your contact information."_ She quickly gave him her T-Comm number, then took a seat at her usual table, which had a few of the other regulars sitting at it, and began listening to the poets.

She made a few turns herself by the end of the night, a surprise that all of the customers appreciated. Not often was the voice of this dark Titan heard by anyone other than her team. And it turned out Raven had a knack for the dramatics, enthralling the audience with her own rendition of Poe's _The Raven_. But now it was time for Raven to get home. She bowed to the audience and walked off stage, handing a twenty to the owner to pay for her tea and the enjoyable night. "Let me know when you do this again, Hank." The owner grinned widely. "I will, Miss Roth. It's an honor to have you as a regular here."

She smiled graciously at the owner and walked out the door... only to have the door itself slam into someone's face. Raven's eyes went wide as soon as she heard the 'thud' of a body hitting pavement, and instantly moved to the person's side. "I'm sorry, I didn't..." The person she hit... was Jinx. It was like destiny was being a total bitch, giving her tastes of what she wants but can never have. "Jinx?" The pink haired ex-villain opened her eyes, revealing hazed over eyes. Judging from the chaotic bliss rolling off the woman, she was drunk. Like, drank like a fish drunk. The hex caster suddenly gave Raven one of her trademark grins, bringing butterflies to Raven's stomach. "Hello, gorgeous, I was just dreaming about you. Hic." She tried standing, but almost fell over again before Raven caught her. "Woah there, Jinx. You're in no condition to walk. Where's Wally?" The sudden change in Jinx's demeanor made her feel two things: Hope... and Anger. "As far as I know, not far enough away."

"I'll take you to the tower, Jinx. You can sleep this off in the guest room." Jinx giggled a bit. "I usually don't go home with you on the first date, but I'll make an exception for you, Miss Roth." Raven just kept blushing. "Keep that up, and I'll dump you in the bay along the way." The whine and look Jinx gave her almost made Raven's knees buckled, but she held firm her glare until Jinx agreed to keep quiet. She then levitated the two of them off the ground and into the air, then accelerated towards the tower.

When she arrived, she walked into a normal early morning scene. Ops was filled with half awake heroes... and the fearless leader, who never slept. Beastboy yawned loudly from the couch as he turned on the television to some odd comedy show. Terra melted over the back of the couch and took up a position beside him, as per their normal morning schedule. Cyborg was already cooking, the flashy meat vs tofu argument just waiting on BB's reaction to the smell. Robin sat at one of the computers, reading several news reports simultaneously, and Star sat at the computer beside him checking her Email and updating her status and looking at her friends' status on some sort of social network. But all eyes went to her the moment she stepped into the door, guest in tow.

"Raven? Is that..." Terra began, but Raven cut her off. "Yes, it's Jinx, Tara. Don't ask for the details right now, she needs to sleep off the night she just had." And with that comment, Raven floated her and Jinx to the spare bedroom. The Tower was built to house seven heroes, originally, but since both Kid Flash and Wondergirl had declined their memberships, two rooms had gone unused for most of the time. Now one of those rooms was for Terra, and one was a guest room. It was Fitting that Jinx was sleeping in Kid Flash's room. _At least she got something out of him... When I see his face... __**Remember our promise, Mistress.**_


	2. Glimpses of the Future

**A/N:** I apologize, everyone who was enjoying my work, for my long hiatus. My work and my life have been... chaotic, to say the least. I'm averaging 100 hours a pay period these days, which is a good thing. Unfortunately, I'm almost always too tired to do any writing. Even my Roleplaying, which I do on a few sites, has been cut off. Still, I've been getting reviews for this story, even with it's obvious hiatus, and it's made me want to continue it.

On another note, I felt I should mention a few things:

1) Raven's Emotions. I was slightly annoyed during the cartoon with them, the colors were almost perfect, expect Timid and Knowledge should have switched cloaks. I bet you all are asking my reasoning, no? It's DC Continuity. There is already an established color/emotion status quo, thanks to the Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum introduced in the Green Lantern story. And aside from Timid (Fear) being Grey and Knowledge (Logic, often represented as grey and bland) being Yellow. Happy, which can be considered Raven's affection, is pink, the color of Love. Bravery could easily be considered the aspect representing Raven determination and will, and is Green. The Red of Rage is obvious, of course. And Rude, being orange, is the most appropriate representation of Greed. Not to mention Raven herself has a blue cloak, and she's been stated many times as being a being full of Hope. And her White Cloak represents Life, a new start for her. As such, I will be switching their cloaks within my story, to uphold Continuity.

2) Names. As you've probably noticed, I'm using not only their codenames, but their real names as well. Many only familiar with the cartoon will not know the other names, so I'll list them here.

Nightwing: Richard Grayson

Starfire: Koriand'r

Changeling: Garfield Logan

Cyborg: Victor Stone

Raven: Raven Roth

Terra: Tara Markov

Kid Flash: Wally West

Gizmo: Micron O'Jeneus

Mammoth: Baran Flinders

Now, on with the story:

Groggily, Jinx came back to the land of the living. One arm covering her eyes, the other holding the edge of the warm comforter, she lay there, trying to gain her bearings. _Okay, think Jinx. Last night, we got to the club, started dancing, got into a drinking contest with Bottomless Billy... oh, that's what happened. Note to self, don't try to out-drink a man the size of Baran. _Over an hour passed before she finally gathered the will to open her eyes, and at least another ten before her eyes could see without her getting that stabby feeling in her brain. The first thing she noticed was that she wasn't in her room. _Okay, I didn't make it back to the base._ The second, was that the surroundings were eerily familiar.

_Oh, crap! I'm in the frickin' T-Tower. Don't panick... you haven't done anything wrong. Well, except bringing a building down on he-who-must-not-be-named, but that douche deserved it! Rambling, Rambling! Calm, centre, focus... breath... _Taking in a deep breath, Jinx started coughing because of the sheer dryness her throat was suffering from. "Bad.. Augh! Bad idea." After the coughing had finally settled, Jinx sighed. _The hell happened last night?_

The trademark 'whoosh' of the door opening sounded then, causing Jinx's head to swing- far too quickly for her own good- in that direction. She winced from the pain, making her unable to glimpse the figure who walked in. "I see you are awake. Good." Oh, great. It was Raven, just what Jinx needed. "I brought you some herbal tea. I am told it this particular blend is a good remedy for a hangover." Jinx finally managed to open her eyes, looking directly into the azure color of the other woman's own. "Judging from the chaos in your emotions, you have a rather bad one this afternoon."

Jinx blinked twice before it dawned on her. "_Afternoon!?_ How long have I slept?" Throwing the covers off and jumping out of the bed, Jinx wasn't ready for the sudden pain and lack of balance simultaneously hitting her. The result: She barreled right into Raven, spilling the tea over them and landing both in a... compromising position. "S-sorry!" Jinx yelled. "But seriously, I should get going, I've already overstayed my welcome." Rising up, she was about to run out of the door when Raven grabbed her hand. "Not like that. I am not going to let people think we are terrible hosts. Get in the shower, I'll bring you a change of clothes."

And with that, Raven walked out of the room. Leaving a very confused Jinx. Until the hexcaster felt the warm damp all over her back. "Oh... the tea. Riiiiiight. Shower it is."

* * *

As soon as she heard the water turn on, Raven started on the walk to the Tower's laundry room. She knew Jinx wouldn't share her own taste in clothing, and doubted that the harbinger of unlikelyhoods would appreciate Starfire's bubbly attire, either. Luckily for her, there was another girl in the tower, once more. The familiar swooshing sound of the Ops doorways sounded as the sorceress entered their all in one living quarters.

"Tara, could I talk to you?" Raven simply stated before again walking out of the Ops Center. Tara looked up, eying each of the other Titans for opinions. And judging by their expressions, this was a common thing for Raven to do. So, she stood, and quickly followed the demi-demoness out of the room. Finding her standing in front of Tara's own room. "I'm sorry to bother you, Tara. I... accidentally spilt tea on Jinx, so she needs a change of clothes. She'd appreciate your taste more than mine or Kori's." Raven smiled nervously at Terra, knowing this seemed out of character.

Terra, though, simply smiled and dragged the dark titan into her room. "I'll fetch something light for wearing around the tower. You plan on washing her actual clothes, right?"

* * *

Jinx was in heaven. _The tower's plumbing must be impressive if they got such incredible pressure in all the rooms_, she thought with a sigh as the water melted away all woes and worries, calming the hexgirl. A knock on the door brought her out of her revelry, though. "Yes?" She called out from the shower, figuring it was Raven. A rather obvious thing, as the girl in question responded. "Shall I leave the change of clothes out here, or do you mind me coming in?" Jinx laughed at the shy girl. "We're both girls, Raven, don't be shy."

The door opened, flooding steam into the room beyond as Raven stepped inside, quickly going over the room before stopping her gaze dead on Jinx's silhouette. _So lithe..._ She could make out ever curve and crevice on her body thanks to her naturally enhanced vision, and it was a captivating sight. She had not even realized she was staring before Jinx piped up. "I know I'm captivating, but staring is rude, Rae." That got the dark titan's attention, and she quickly set the clothes down and ran towards the doorway, stopping only to speak. "We'll be having dinner soon, if you want to join us, you are welcome." Then she bolted from the door, thankful that the shower's glass doors prevented Jinx from seeing the bright red blush on her face.

On the other side of the door, Jinx too, was blushing. _Oh my... Is Raven _attracted _to me? Could... could that dream have actually been a vision? I haven't had one since... since the HIVE Five captured Wally._ That was it. She had a vision about her own ideal future, and Raven was a key part. But the rest of the dream was... cryptic. She'd have to meditate on it.

* * *

When Jinx did not arrive for the meal, Raven began to worry. The woman had been severely intoxicated, and her body would need nutrients soon. So, grabbing a plate of the vegetarian spread Changeling had made this evening, she went into the living quarters and knocked twice on Jinx's door. No answer came, and that increased Raven's worry. She used her power to unlock the door, and entered to find Jinx... meditating.

It was odd, seeing the normally rambunctious and hyper-active woman, sitting crossed legged on the floor, still as a stone. What's more, a strong aura surrounded her, something Raven knew from experience only came when one has reached a true state of meditation, where one's awareness no longer existed solely within this plane. Smiling slightly, Raven set the food down in front of the woman and moved to her own room, feeling a meditation session would do her good, as well.

Jinx, meanwhile, was walking down her own path within Samsara. She watched how her choices over the last few years have steered her towards a good thing. She could see a light far into the distance, a brightness she'd never seen before in meditation. It was a good omen. All around her, she saw them. People she had met, people she would meet. She saw the strings of fate weaving all of them together, and thanks to her own powers, she could even divine some of the meanings. She smiled, happy with the meditation's results, even if she could not divine the meaning of her vision.

Her eyes opened as her awareness returned to her body. The first thing she noted with the platter of vegetables and fruit in front of her, which was not there when she sat down for her meditation. "She brought me food?" Raven's aura still lingered on the platter, which told her who brought it. The thought that Raven took the time to bring her food made her heart flutter a bit. Even after switching to the side of heroes, Jinx rarely received kind actions. It was a heartwarming thing for her, this simple act.

Meanwhile, with the other magic user in the tower, we see a similar sight to what Raven walked in on when she checked upon Jinx. Raven floated a few inches off of her floor, crossed legs and hands at her knees, slowly repeating her mantra, one word for each inhale and exhale. She, too, was in a deep meditative state, though for her, her awareness was within her own being, not walking amidst the fabric of destiny. She needed to talk to her emotions. However, the moment she entered Nevermore, she was approached by the grey cloaked aspect of Knowledge. "We need to talk, Mistress."

"This is unexpected, Knowledge. You've never been so forceful." Raven nodded to the emotion, if you could call her logical side that. Still, if the logic-based aspect saw a need for this, she would listen. "What's on your mind?" The grey-cloaked aspect seemed apprehensive for a bit, before she nodded and looked into the distance, seemingly lost for a bit, before turning back. "I've... _We've_ come to a bit of a consensus, Mistress. We believe... our time has come." Raven looked at Knowledge confusingly. "What do you mean?"

Knowledge smiled at her. "We've... that is to say, myself and the other emotions, have always known we would one day become only a hindrance to you. And we all agreed, that when that time comes, we'd ask you take us back. We want nothing but the best for you, Mistress, and right now, that means making you whole again." Placing one hand on Raven's shoulder as comfort, she continued. "We will not act without your consent, Mistress, just know we all believe this is what is best for you. Take time to think on it, and let us know your decision when you are ready."

Raven was so stunned by the aspect's words that she lost contact with Nevermore, falling from her levitated position and hitting the ground as her meditation was broken. She just sat there, awe struck. Her emotions were willing to... become one again. But is that what she wanted? Even as they were now, she could feel emotion. It just wasn't as strongly. Would she be able to handle her full emotions?


End file.
